"Adobe hasn't adapted the product to how people have evolved in working with PDF files," Lonn Lorenz, who worked at Adobe for a decade before becoming Nitro chief product officer in 2009, told AFP News.

"The fact that Adobe hasn't done it just doesn't make sense. We hear from people that they have no love for Adobe Reader; we want people to have a lot of love for Nitro Reader."

Nitro PDF Reader is available for download at nitroreader.com.

Nitro was marketed to readers as more secure than Adobe software during a time that booby-trapping PDF files have been seen as a prime method of attack by hackers.

Symantec recently reported that the number of PDF files tainted with malicious code skyrocketed in 2009 to represent 49 percent of Web-based attacks, topping the category.

"One of the big things about Adobe Reader is how vulnerable it is," Lorenz told AFP.

Nitro is hoping that a percentage of its fans that download its free Reader will purchase an upgrade to a professional version that the firm sells for $99.

"No one has offered functionality to work with PDF without a catch; until now," O'Reilly told AFP. "Adobe Reader is one of those things people just have to put up with. That is something we want to turn on its head."

The battle against Adobe Reader comes during a time that Adobe faces a battle with its Flash video software against Apple.

A public feud between the companies has included Apple chief executive Steve Jobs calling out the flaws he sees in the software, giving reason to why Apple does not support Flash in its iPhone, iPad and iPod devices.

"It does give me a bit of a smile," Lorenz said of taking on Adobe on the PDF front. "But we just wanted a PDF reader that people want to use, it just works. The fact that Adobe hasn't done it just doesn't make sense to users."

According to the 10-year-old San Francisco firm, Nitro Reader for English debuts globally on Tuesday, with versions tailored for other languages coming "hot on its heels."